HOW SOCIAL ISSOCIAL MEDIA?

If you listen a little closer to what we and many
others have been saying about social
technologies, you’ll get a better idea of what all the
fuss is about.

A small number of people interact with brands.

A large number of people pay attention to
those interactions.

In the simplest case, just because only a few
people write reviews on homedepot.com or
tripadvisor.com doesn’t mean they’re not
important. Millions read them. That’s why the
companies care so much.

The same applies to what people are saying
about the brand on Facebook or Twitter or
YouTube. Few comment; many read.

So it is about the conversation—and all the
people listening to it. Based on analysis from
Forrester Research, those listeners account for
more than 500 billion brand impressions a year in
a social environment. You could ignore that, but it
would be a mistake.

Keeping living in the 20th century if you want.
We’ll see you when you get here.

RICHARD STACY, STOWMARKET, U.K.

Josh, I would put it this way:A small number of people seek out arelationship with brands.

A larger number of people watch or benefit
from those interactions/relationships.

A very large number of people may want to
interact with brands at very specific times
(usually when they have a complaint or
suggestion).

The trick is to understand which group you
are dealing with—because you can’t treat them
the same.

MIKE SPROUSE, CHICAGO, ILL.

I wrote a post on my blog awhile back asking
whether we’re in the anti-social or social era. And
Josh, I agree that brands pay attention and care
what a small number of people say in the interest
of affecting the larger population (especially if the
commentary people are “listening to” is bad).

Two points, though. Listening is passive. If 99%

PARACADUTE

DON’TSPEAKNOW:

Socially savvy and
highly shared rock
group OK Go.

of social media is about people being passive, how
is that “social”? So perhaps social media is a
misnomer to begin with (and I think it is).

[That] leads me to the meatier point. Brands
might get your data points and might understand
them, but I can tell you that they want “likes.” I’ve
been on both sides—brand and agency—and all
brands care about is this dream of having more
people interact with them. … That’s the bill of
goods we’ve all been sold in this social-media era:
that more likes and followers are better, because
more people are interacting with your company.

Snarky comments aside, I don’t think the
author is stuck in another era, I think this is a
viable topic.

ON MOBILE, IT’S NOTABOUT THE ADS

Re:“What’sHoldingBackMobile-AdSpending?”
AA,Feb.27

JEFFREY DACHIS, DACHIS GROUP, AUSTIN, TEXAS

What’s holding back mobile-ad spending is the
almost caveman-like belief that display
advertising is going to be relevant on a mobile
device the way that it is in a magazine. The truth is
that meaningful, measurable brand engagement
[into which] companies would put meaningful
dollars will not come from display advertising on
phones but through more engaging experiences
like the app ecosystem or social experiences.

Let’s stop trying to pretend that the mobile-ad
space is a great delivery vehicle for display
advertising, and we will see mobile as a
brand/commerce marketing opportunity take off
at scale.

REALLY, TACO BELL?

Re:“WatchTacoBell’sFirstSpotWith‘LiveMas’
Tagline” AdAge.com,Feb. 24

MARK POPROCKI, COVA, COLUMBUS, OHIO

I don’t know what másmeans, and I don’t care
enough about Taco Bell to Google it. I’m
guessing it means something cool, hip and
exciting.

When I did care enough about Taco Bell toeat its cheap food, I never felt cool, hip andexciting to do so. I had a dollar, and I was hungryfor something other than another burger. GuessI was thinking outside the bun or something. …Do you have something to say? Send letters and corrections toviewpoint@adage.comor to Advertising Age, Viewpoint, 711 Third Ave., New York,NY 10017. Please limit letters to 250 words.

Ron Johnson was shocked at what he
found when he became CEO of JC Penney
& Co. The chain ran 590 separate sales last
year, and nearly three-quarters of its
merchandise sold at discounts of 50% or
more.

You have to admire what he did next:
Out with nonstop promotions, and in with
everyday low prices.

That goes against conventional wisdom.
Almost every mainstream department
store operatesona continual-salebasis,
essentially training the consumer not to buy
anything until it’s on sale.

I was then surprised by what Mr.
Johnson did with the chain’s logotype: a
red-bordered white square, with “JCP” in a
blue square in the upper left-hand
quadrant.

JCP? How many consumers call
Penney’s JCP? No one I know refers to it
that way.

A recent Associated Pressstory about Mr. Johnsonreferred to JC Penney threeways: J.C. Penney (threetimes), Penney’s (three times)and Penney (nine times). JCP,zero. If consumers “own” thebrand, then they also own itsnickname. And they probablyprefer “Penney” or “Penney’s”to “JCP.”Then why would thecompany even consider usingthe initials as its logotype?

Having worked with a
number of big companies, I’ve
noticed that employees often
call them by pet names. I
wouldn’t be surprised if many
JC Penney staffers routinely
use “JCP” in emails, reports
and other internal
documents. JCP, three letters, is easier to
write than J.C. Penney. I’m sure that, after
years of typing “JCP,” many executives
think of it as the name of the company
they work for.

Consumers are different. What
companies write about, consumers talk
about. Spoken length is what matters.
Consumers almost never use a nickname
unless it’s shorter than the full name of the
product or service.

“Let’s get some stuff at Penney’s.”
Penney’s is shorter to say. And consumers
will never use “JCP,” three syllables, instead
of “Penney’s,” two syllables.

Years ago, Western Union was one of
our accounts. Early in the relationship, I
was mildly surprised to see internal
memos about “WUCo”: Western Union
Corp.

Western Union, whose reputationsuffered because of the connection withtelegrams, was a candidate for a namechange. (As Time magazine oncereported: “It was on time and had notypographic errors, so we knew it was afake telegram.”) We recommended“Westar Corp.”We spent a lot of time and money onpresentations and prototype ads but gotnowhere with management. We finallythrew in the towel.

Why would
JC Penney even
consider using
the initials JCP
as its logotype
when most
consumers
prefer to call the
retailer Penney
or Penney’s?

Al Ries is chairman of Ries & Ries, an
Atlanta-based consulting firm he runs
with his daughter and partner Laura.
Their website is: ries.com.